Improvement in sash-balances



HIRAM SMIT-H.

Sash Balance.

Patented Dec.26, 1871.

HIRAM SMITH, OF .TITUSVILLF PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SASH-BALANCES.

Snecication forming part of Letters Patent No. 122,288, dated Decemberm, 1871.

.'I, HIRAM SMITH, of Titusville, in the county of Crawford and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Window-Sash Balance, of which the following is a specifi cation:

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 represents anelevatiou of the inner side of a windowfralne embracing my invention. Fig. 2 represents an edge view'of the sash, showing the shallow groove for the play of the balance-suspending springs. Fig. represents an inside view of the window-jamb. Fig. 4 represents a view, in perspective, of the face-plate, the drum, and balance-spring, the latter. in the position of rest u )on its drum. Fig. v5 re resents a side elevation of the same. Fig. 6 represents the face-plate, and Fig.7 Vthe drum, and the suspending-balance sp1-iu g coiled thereon in a position at rest.

The drums or pulleys a aof thebalan ce-sprin gs u! are solid, and each is supported by suitable bearings in the side pieces g g of the face-plate d, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and fitted withina recess in the window-trame, as shown in Fig. l. The balance-springs d are attached to the drums or pulleys at e, Fig. 7, and to the lower bars at b b and c c of the upper and lower sash,as shown in Fig. l, by screws or otherwise, one end of each balance-spring being attached to the pplley or drum and the other to the sash. The face-plate must be providedwith afi" opening, h, to allow this connection' and the free play ofthe suspend- `ing balance-spring in its winding and unwindin g movement. When the lower sash is down the balance-springs are uncoiled and straightened, and lie in the grooves i of the sash; and when the upper sash is closed the balance-sprin gs are coiled upon their pulleys in positions at rest. In

Figs. 4, 5, and 7 the end of the balance-sprin lto which the sash is suspended is shown at The distinguishing feature of my invention consists in balancing the sash directly by and upon steel springs, wlich aretemperedwina coiled sit'm/n, with one end securedtto the circuiiirence of apulleyand then other to the sash; and the pulley, being free to turn upon its axis, tends, consequently, to be revolved automatically to wind the spring by the force thereof, which also balances the sash. Moreover, it is this feature of being coiled when at rest that causes the spring to hug and cling tightly around the pulley so as to require force to straighten it out or unwind it, which force, in recoiling, will alone balance the sash and act With @Gewhlte.thrallgheutiheeutiminors en? tgilt-,liesash. y This is the feature which insu s a uniformity in the balance of the springs throughout their entire length, while, at the same time, the means for balancing, serve also as the means for suspending and operating the sash.

These thin steel-sprin g suspending straps are durable, and can be applied to old windows or new where there has been no` provision madeV for weights, and in the .angles of bay windows, and in railroad cars where there is no room` for weights and where they cannot be used. My improvement, moreover, is much cheaper, by half, than weights and cords, and is thereby brought within the reach of all classes of builders. These operating straps, of course, `must be of sucient strength to suit large or small sash, and the pulleys must be of such diameter that the straps, 'when wound, will not very materially increase their diameter; and, aseach strap is secured to the circumference of the pulley and wound one fold tightly upon another, :the force of the .recoil openings in the face-plates Vto cause the straps to y be wound and unwound in a line with the grooves 4in the edges of the sash.

Having described my invention, I claim-f The spring-pulley balance, `consisting of the pulley a and spring a', attached, by one end, to the periphery of the pulley,and wound compact- 1y so as to wind and unwind directly thereon in effecting the balance of the sash to which it is y attached, and thereby avoid the objection of separate loose coiled adjustable springs and pulleystraps, as described.

' HIRAM SMITH.`

Witnesses: l

A. B. HOWLAND,

E. B. FREW.

NITED PATENT OFFICE. 

